Talks, Presentations, Lectures

Groups and organizations wishing Allen Smutylo to make a presentation or give a talk, please contact allensmutylo@bmts.com

Allen Smutylo has lectured extensively from his experiences throughout the world. His many ventures include the Arctic region (20 sea kayak and backpacking expeditions), the Himalayas (visiting and traveling with the iconic Tibetan Buddhist nomads, over a 9 year period) and more recently multiple trips into the deserts of Rajasthan and the coasts of West and North Africa. The unique point of view given by Smutylo, the artist, the writer and the adventurer provides for an inspiring, informative and captivating presentation.

In the Arctic, Smutylo has had numerous first-hand encounters with whales, polar bears, muskoxen, rogue walruses, exploding icebergs and ferocious waters. Central to his interest, includes the celebration of human creativity as evident in the life of the Inuit and pre-Inuit people, who, in the harshest of environments developed and adapted unique technologies to survive. At its core, Smutylo probes a crucial and contemporary issue - that of the modern world's relationship to a fragile and severe environment and to the human life and wildlife that calls it home.

In the Himalaya, Smutylo was fortunate enough to encounter and become friends with a number of nomad tribes that roam its high elevations. In the region of Ladakh, on the border of Tibet, at 15,000', these hardy Tibetan Buddhists, with their horses, yaks, sheep and goats have maintained a vibrant culture, essentially unchanged for centuries. Smutylo is one of very few North Americans to have written and portrayed these illusive and fiercely independent people. This presentation captures the taste, smells, sights and textures of a way of life that is hard to believe still exists.